Documentary Reviews

Documentary

My Amityville Horror

My Amityville Horror

For the past thirty-four years, all things Amityville have been such a pop culture staple that it’s easy to forget that the first film was based on a true...

Jennifer
Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey

Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey

Regardless of your interest in Journey’s music or their existence as a band, chances are good that you’ve heard about their new lead singer Arnel Pineda, remarkable for his...

Jennifer
Secrets of the Manor House (2012)

Secrets of the Manor House (2012)

Fans of Downton Abbey, Upstairs Downstairs, and Remains of the Day will completely soak up Secrets of the Manor House, a fascinating peek at the UK’s aristocracy and their...

Linda
Waking Sleeping Beauty

Waking Sleeping Beauty

When you think of Disney, you probably place the words drama, tragedy, betrayal, and triumph in the context of their films and associate them with lion kings, little mermaids,...

Jennifer
Unknown White Male: A True Story

Unknown White Male: A True Story

Unknown White Male follows an extremely rare medical case of amnesia, yet the idea of the film ends up being more interesting than the film itself. Doug Bruce, a...

Linda
The Good Old Naughty Days (Polissons et Galipettes) (2002)

The Good Old Naughty Days (Polissons et Galipettes) (2002)

Synopsis: This head-turner, which premiered at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival’s Director’s Fortnight, provides an intriguing counterpoint to today’s bland, fantasy-driven version of sex in the cinema, presenting every...

Eric
Love and Valor: One Couple's Intimate Civil War Letters (2012)

Love and Valor: One Couple’s Intimate Civil War Letters (2012)

There are many enduring images of the Civil War–the siege of Vicksburg, Sherman’s burning of Atlanta and his destructive march to the sea, the sickness and starvation, the pillaging...

Linda
The Dust Bowl (2012)

The Dust Bowl (2012)

Ken Burns, who has a pretty darn great job if you ask me, returns with his latest epic chronicle of America. This time he sets his sights on The...

Linda
Earth (2007)

Earth (2007)

Narrated by James Earl Jones (taking over for Patrick Stewart) and blessed with breathtaking cinematography, the film aims to teach audiences – in as subtle as a way as...

Vickie
Olmstead and America's Urban Parks (2010)

Olmstead and America’s Urban Parks (2010)

A large chunk of this brief 57-minute overview of urban park visionary Frederick Law Olmstead is unsurprisingly (and deservedly) dedicated to the massive and unprecedented design undertaking that became...

Linda
How to Survive a Plague

How to Survive a Plague

More of a document about AIDS activists than AIDS itself, How to Survive a Plague jumps feet-first into 1987, when AIDS had been around for six years and was...

Linda
StoryCorps: Animated Shorts

StoryCorps: Animated Shorts

StoryCorps is an interview project that aims to record and preserve the stories of all types of Americans, from all sorts of backgrounds. Since 2003, StoryCorps has collected and...

Linda